Nathan Meier, an epidemiologist who teaches 康考迪亚的运动学, learned the value of leading teams of undergraduate student researchers while writing his dissertation at Iowa State University — and now uses research and mentorship to set Concordia students on the early path to success.
作为一名研究生, I was constantly recruiting undergraduate students to serve in the lab as research assistants and building a team to do data collection,Meier说道.
作为亚洲体育博彩平台的教授, Meier offers students the opportunity to conduct their own original research — which can help advance their post-college careers.
“I want researching to help students,Meier说道. “This kind of experience makes them more competitive and gives them talking points and depth in their applications.”
One of Meier’s students conducted a meta-analysis to summarize results of individual studies about a particular type of cancer treatment, 然后合成一个结果.
他毕业后, he jumped into a job where he did exactly that for a medical device company,Meier说道. “他在阅读研究报告, 根据质量进行排名, and giving a summary of the results and the magnitude of the effect of the drugs. It was fantastic and about as close to job training as you can get.”
Another group of Meier’s students are presently conducting an ongoing study into the lifestyles of 100 local Parkinson’s patients, to see if participation in boxing — which involves quick 运动s, 认知测序, 运动, and social support — helps remediate symptoms of the disease. Meier believes one of the main benefits of a university education is to give students “a place to fail and not get fired.” A key component of that is performing research, which develops a wide variety of skills.
Some students do research as part of Concordia’s annual 校长学术展示. 有些人的目标是专业出版物.
Jacob Auringer ’21 and another student created a research team with Meier to study “Effects of Hydration Status on Pulse Wave Velocity in Healthy Young Adults.” The goal was to help determine if dehydration skewed certain test results for arterial stiffness and cardiovascular health. The trio are in the process of getting their research published in a peer-reviewed journal.
But it’s beyond the lab where Auringer calls Meier “a mentor and older brother figure to me.”
“When I was going through a rough time in 2020, he was one of the people I could call. It was just the person he was,” says Jacob. “Research is what brought us together but not what kept us together.”
男人们6点出发了.M小径一起跑, 在奥兰治县骑自行车, 在圣克莱门特玩滑板, 除此之外. While working out in the weight room one summer, they talked often about 1 Timothy 4:12 where Paul writes that physical training is good, but training for godliness is far more worthy. 今天, Auringer works for Fellowship of Christian Athletes in San Jose, using sports as a platform to share the gospel with high school and college students.
“Professor Meier is not only a very intelligent, respected advisor and professor but also a very dear friend who was there for me in those hard times,他说.
Working with students opens doors for broader mentorship, Meier says.
“I have weekly meetings and a pulse on how their life is going above and beyond their research,他说. “One of the joys of being in that space is to have a chance to see how their family life is, 他们与神同行的情况如何, and give them a place to have questions and encouragement. 我们整个 运动学系 has a passion to help students use their abilities, 机会, and their call from God to serve people and do the work of God in the world through their vocations.”
Meier also engages students in an entirely different context: through judo. Meier, who has been in the sport for twenty years, started the 校园柔道俱乐部 每周吸引十几名运动员. Judo, he says, teaches virtues like courtesy, integrity, self-control, and an indomitable spirit. Meier compares its principles to the biblical fruits of the Spirit.
“You can’t do anything in judo without your partner,他说. “If you’re going to throw your partner, he has to accept the fall, and then you have your turn. 你不想伤害你的搭档. There’s an element of community, cooperation, fairness, taking care of each other.”
Meier和妻子, 莎拉, also hike avidly with other Concordia faculty and staff, including to local peaks and a recent rim-to-rim excursion through the Grand Canyon.
“I’ve always had a feeling of obligation to influence the culture of a university,Meier说道. “Having a small university like Concordia means not everything has been done already. When I have an opportunity, I try to help people participate in things that are healthy.这包括在 研究实验室，在… 柔道垫在登山路上，在生活中也是如此.